Penn State Makes First Payment to NCAA, Congressman Charlie Dent Isn’t Impressed
It’s safe to say NCAA President Mark Emmert won’t be getting many Christmas cards from folks in Pennsylvania this year. One thing we know for sure is that United States Congressman Charlie Dent won’t be one of them.
Dent, who represents Pennsylvania’s 15th district which compromises Allentown and most of Lehigh Valley, called Mark Emmert’s decision to use most of Penn State’s NCAA fine money for causes out of Pennsylvania “unacceptable and unsatisfactory.” Dent is a 1982 Penn State graduate and is entering his 5th term in Congress.
Dent’s grievances came the same day Penn State made its first of five $12 million payments to the NCAA. The $12 million was acquired through an internal loan from the university to the athletic department, which will be paid back with 4 percent interest over 30 years. The first installment was put into a money market fund where it will sit until the NCAA’s Child Sexual Abuse Endowment task force decides where to put it, a decision that will likely be made in the spring.
The 10 person task force is chaired by Timothy White, chancellor of the University of California-Riverside, and includes only two representatives from Penn State.
Dent, along with other members of the Pennsylvania delegation, have expressed the desire to keep all or most of the $60 million endowment to causes within the state. The NCAA, however, has shown resistance to that concept, which was expressed to Dent in a letter from Emmert last week. Emmert said that he could only guarantee 25 percent of the endowment will go to causes inside of Pennsylvania.
“By outlining comprehensive plans to address child sexual abuse, of course, agencies within Pennsylvania have an opportunity to significantly increase the initial allocation to the Commonwealth,” Emmert wrote.
“[Emmert] chose to hide behind the procedural mechanisms of the NCAA-created Task Force in order to deflect any sort of actual accountability for the disbursement of these funds,” Dent said. “I am greatly disappointed by Dr. Emmert’s response and will continue to press for greater accountability and oversight of the NCAA on this and other matters.”
What are your thoughts? Should the NCAA endowment go towards causes in Pennsylvania, or does it not matter? Let us know in the comments.
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